Do Not Take A Selfie

There were about five days left of our adventure in Europe. I was getting use to waking up to a five- star breakfasts that Kasia's Mom prepared for us every morning. Every morning, there was ham, all different types of slices of bread and cheeses. Also, there just happened to be the best orange juice that I had ever drank in my eighteen years of living. The English muffins with peanut butter that I ate every morning when I was home weren't looking so great anymore.

It was late March so all of the Polish exchanges students were still in school. As a matter of fact, the seniors were taking their final exams in a month. These exams were the most important test of theirs lives. This test would determine where they went to college ( very similar to the SAT). Kasia however, wanted to study in the United States. She applied to Cornell, Notre Dame and many other elite schools that happen to be in the United States.

That morning we went our separate ways, Kasia went to school, while I got on a bus ready for our next adventure.  It just happens to be snowing that day. I kept thinking about how my Mom told me to bring my heavy winter coat. I told her right before getting on the bus to leave, that I didn't need it. I hate to say it, but my Mom is always right, she knows best. In my defense, it was late March, who would have thought that it would have been snowing and thirty degrees? The weather in Europe was a little different than I expected, actually a lot different.

That day we were headed to Auschwitz.  If you have ever seen any Holocaust movie you are bound to see an image from this camp. It just happens to be probably the most famous and well-known camp there was in Nazi Germany during the time. The camp  was the largest one in Europe and killed about 1.5 million innocent people there.

At this point, we had seen a few camps, and after what I saw at Majdanek I truly didn't think any camp could be much worse. When we were arrived the place was packed. We then had to grab our headphones. As you walk around the camp they make you listen to the guide over a radio, this way the guide doesn't have to yell and it's much easier to hear.  The famous Albeit Macht Free (work sets you free) sign covered the entrance of the camp. The camp was separated into three parts, but only two of the parts of the camp were still standing due to the fact that the Nazi boomed the third part of the camp in attempts to cover up what they did. Clearly that didn't work. We first entered the museum part of the camp which was in one of the many barracks. Inside the Museum were the remains of many of the items that those who lost their lives brought to the camps. For example in one room there were hundreds of thousands of glasses. There were suitcases, shoes and babies clothes. Then the worst part of it all, there was tons of hair all behind a glass case. I felt sick to my stomach at this point, all that hair was from millions of innocent men women and children. I had to leave the museum and I did just that and met my classmates outside.

Next we visited the crematoriums, every time I stepped into one I just couldn't comprehend the fact that millions of people had died in that room. Many would think by now I would be prepared to see what was inside since I had been in many at other camps, but no the tears fell again. As we stepped outside the building I witnessed something that I would never forget in my life. There was a young group of kids from some European School probably about sixteen and seventeen years old taking a selfie in front of the garbed wire and one of the barracks. I was absolutely disgusted, I felt sick and everyone of my classmates was appalled. How could they ever in their right mind be able to take a selfie at a place where millions of people lost their lives. After all, all my classmates were crying while these kids were smiling and laughing while taking this photo. They just didn't get it my teacher explained and it was truly sickening to watch.

We had to take a bus to the second part of the camp. This part happens to be the most famous, there was a huge watch tower, hundreds of barracks, and train with tracks that went right through the camp. We walked throughout the camps, but the thing was that the Nazi tried to get hide the camps by bombing them they missed terribly and there was still chimneys and many barracks left. The barracks were absolutely horrible. The guide told us that thousands were crammed into them, causing many to die of a disease.  Once we left the barracks we went over to the far end of the camp where in every single language on  a brick that read, "forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity where the Nazis murdered about one and half million men, women and children mainly Jews from various countries of Europe, Auschwitz Birkenali 1940-1945". This was one of the most powerful quotes I had ever seen. The fact that it was translated in about twenty languages was so powerful. Those who created this memorial wanted everyone from every country around the world that this event that took place in Europe can never happen again.

Last we went up into the tower that looked over the whole camp. From there you could see all the barracks, the train, the train car, and the crematoriums that the nazi attempted to destroy. Looking over the whole camp, was a moment in my life that I'll never forget. I remember getting the chills, all I could think about was how less than 100 years ago, Nazi guards were standing where I was making sure that none of the "prisoners" escaped. It was amazing to me how the Nazi's tried to cover this whole atrocity up by bombing the whole camp. They knew what they did was disgusting and that's why they tried to cover it up, but yet they still managed to murder millions of people.  

Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin.. Happy Birthday!

For anyone thats ever been on a long trip, you know how exhausting they are. For the last eight days, we had traveled through three different European countries, with heavy suitcases.  Not only were we exhausted but we many of us didn't like the duck and other food that was being served. Yes, we knew we were picky Americans when it came to food. When people think of Poland they think cold winters, communism and perogies.

Thre is nothing I love more than perogies. I eat them at home all the time.  Yet here I was about to be eating them in a Polish Cafe. Kasia and her family brought us to the cutest cafe where they had  twenty different types of Perogies. We had a variety of Perogies that night. From sweet tasting ones to regular Perogies filled with the greatest potatoes I ever had. The thing about Europe was that everyone pretty much spoke English so when it was my turn to order my Perogies the waitress didn't look at me weird when I asked for them in English.

After we ate our main course we moved on to dessert expect I guess a common trend in Europe is that you don't stay at the same Cafe for dessert. We then ventured to the main square of Krakow. There I had the best Tiramisu that I ever had in my life. Of course it was served with hot chocolate, I mean it was about 15 degrees out and late March.  The hot chocolate was spectacular, they literally took a chocolate bar, melted it added a little milk and served it to us. Truthfully, I would go all the way back to Poland just for that hot chocolate.

Over dessert and hot chocolate, her parent asked me questions about the United States. Luckily for me they spoke great English and asked me questions about my family and the college I wanted to attend in the fall. Then Kasia insisted that we leave to meet her friend at another cafe. At this point, I really wanted to go home and sleep but it was my Birthday so she told me we needed to celebrate with all her friends.

The main square of Krakow was all lighten up and beautiful. All the shops were still open even though it was pretty late. I asked Kasia if we could go shopping but once again she insisted that we needed to get to our next place. When we walked through the door to the next cafe I heard a bunch of whispers.  All the sudden we walked into this back room and everyone screamed surprise!! All my Polish friends who had been in the United States last spring were at the surprise party that Kasia planned for me. There was more dessert and cake. They sang Happy Birthday in Polish and we danced the night away.

Not many people can say that they turned eighteen in Europe. Yet, not only did I turn eighteen in Europe, I also had a surprise party planned for me and was reunited with all my Polish friends. I never wanted to leave Europe and after all at dinner that night Kasia's Mom said she would adopt me. At this point, I was highly considering it!

Reunited

There are days in our lives that we seem to never forget.  On the morning of my eighteenth birthday last March, I witnessed something that changed the way I looked at the world forever.  Majdanek was the worst thing I had ever seen in my life.  That day I had never felt so hopeless, all I wanted to do was go back in time and save those innocent people, but the reality was that I couldn't.

Here I was yet again on that Mercedes Benz bus reflecting in my journal.  When the bus drove away from Majdanek so much guilt fell upon me.  Here I was turning eighteen.  I had so much to live for, yet half of those people didn't even make it past eighteen.  It was a hard concept to fully comprehend.

We started our day at a concentration camp and now we were on our way to finally stay with our Polish students.  Can you even imagine that transition?  One minute ash is blowing in your eyes from the victims at the memorial and the next you are with your student and their family.  The jet lag was long gone at this point.  I think everyone including myself was emotionally drained, but we had to stay awake because in less than five hours we would be living in the most beautiful city in Poland.

The Polish countryside was absolutely flawless.  The fields were so green and lush.  A few of my classmates were practicing their Polish throughout our five-hour journey.  After all, we would be staying with a Polish family for a full week.  We were on this trip to learn about the Holocaust and explore European culture and we were doing just that.  The conflict was that none of us knew how to speak Polish.  We only spoke a few words here and there.  The students we were staying with spoke stellar English, their parents, did not.

In the spring of my junior year, Kasia came to my home in New Jersey.  Now it was the following spring and we were about an hour away from her city, Krakow, Poland.  I wasn't going to lie, I was a little nervous.  What if her parents didn't like me?  What if I have to eat duck for a straight week? Will I be able to eat perogies?  If they ask about the concentration camps, what do I even say?  Will they have an actual shower or will I be bathing in a lovely bathtub again?  What if her parents don't understand a word I say, will it be awkward?  I wonder what the Polish teachers will think of us?  I was so overwhelmed that I ended up falling sleep. What better way to deal with stress, than sleeping? I must have slept for about an hour because when I opened my eyes, there we were in front of  VLiceum Ogolnksztalcape , the top Polish high school in Krakow.  This just happened to be the school that our students attended.

Everyone pushed their way off the bus and into a crowd of Polish students and parents.  I looked like a lost puppy at that moment.  I couldn't seem to find Kasia.  Then I heard someone in a Polish accent scream, "Shan".  I had never hugged someone so tight in my life.  After a week of exploring Europe, it was so nice to see a familiar face.  Once again I was crying, but this time it was tears of happiness. Not many people get to say that they turned eighteen in Europe with their European best friend, but I did.

Forever Changed

There are days in our lives that we remember forever. Ones that we can distinctly remember every aspect of.  In March of 2015, I witnessed something that completely changed the way I looked at the world forever.

It was raining that day, this seemed to be a common trend in the European weather. It was late March, yet it was about thirty-five degrees out. The sky was so dark, it seemed to hint at what was yet to come later in the day. Our bus strolled through the city of Lublin, Poland. The city was so quaint and beautiful. The thing about Europe is, the architecture is so incredible. Every building is vastly different and unique in its own unique way. Ten minutes later however, we were out of the city and then boom there it was.

Across the street, there were neighborhoods, businesses, and then there was Majdanek. The moment the bus door opened and our feet hit the gravel, this eerie  feeling crept upon me. I'd seen pictures of the camp in my Holocaust textbook before, but here I was face to face with the barbed wire, the watch towers, and the barracks. We finally entered the camp, and our first stop was the gas chamber. Our guide brought us to a room filled with shower heads. She then explained that everyone that was eventually gassed had to first take a shower. She then brought us through to the room where thousands were gassed and showed us where the Nazi Commanders would put the Zyklon B tablets into gas the victims. The worst part of the whole thing was that there was still blue residue on the walls from the gas. At this point there was no words or thoughts, just silence.

Once we exited the gas chamber, we made our way up to another barrack. I'll never forget the feeling I had when that door opened, just typing this brings back tears.  Right in front of me, thousands upon thousands of shoes, all so dirty and worn. They belonged to all of those that lost their lives. They ranged in different sizes, from adult shoes to little baby shoes. The part that hit me the most was the baby shoes.  They had murdered over a million of innocent children, but how? For the first time in the whole trip, I had to walk away from the tour. I couldn't do it emotionally; I was not the only one. As a matter of fact, many of my classmates, as well as myself, had to regroup outside. Little did we know that the worst was yet to come.

We made our way up to the crematorium. The ovens that I'd seen in so many Holocaust movies were right in front of me. Just knowing that thousands of people were put in those ovens made me sick to my stomach. I want you to just stop and think about it for a second. How could anyone in their right mind put another human being in an oven?  It felt like what I'd seen was a scene from a horror movie. The horrendous reality was this was real life. As we toured the camp more and more I realized that the scariest part about this camp was that it could have been fully up and operational in just 24 hours.

The tour was almost over, but our guide had insisted that we see one more site before we left. As we made our way past the barbed wire and watch towers we came to a place that overlooked the whole camp. There stood a large Mausoleum that had, "let our fate be a warning to you" written across the top.  Inside stacked pretty high was a pile of ashes from the victims. To the right lay, ditches that looked like mini hills.  Underneath the grass lay bodies from the mass executions that took place. In the far distance, we could see the city of Lublin all the apartment buildings and house. It was hard to comprehend how an atrocity happened so close to so many people yet none of them did anything about it.

The tour finally came to an end, but our teachers gave us some time to take it all in. As I sat on the steps of the memorial the wind seemed to blow some of the ash into my face. I cried harder on that step than I ever had in my eighteen years of living.  I felt so hopeless, all I wanted to do was go back in time and save all those innocent people. The harsh reality was, I couldn't. I learned that day that the world can be so beautiful sometimes but yet so cruel.




All these photographs were taken by myself. Unfortunately, they were taken on my old phone that can't connect to wi-fi so I took a picture of them, enjoy.

These photos are by my friend Hannah D'Amico, enjoy!

Beauty and A Beast

There is something so magical about Prague.  The castle that looks over the city seems as if it was taken right out of a fairytale.  This journey we were on was so emotionally draining.  One minute we're exploring beautiful European cities, the next we were learning about the hundreds of thousands of people that died in a city or at a camp because of one man and his regime.  That afternoon after we left the town of Lidice, we found ourselves back in the beautiful city of Prague.  We all had a lot on our minds, the bus ride home was filled with a lot of tears and journal logging to write down our immediate emotions, feelings and thoughts.

Our teachers gave us the early afternoon until late evening to explore the city by ourselves.  As we climbed the road to the castle, we found ourselves in front of two guards.  Of course, being from the selfie generation, all of my classmates and I took photos with guards.  Now, the thing is the guards aren’t suppose to laugh, but one of them did.  Inside the castle was spectacular.  The stained glasses windows were like none other that I’d ever seen.  It’s safe to say that I used half my memory card from my camera on that castle.  We then ate dinner in a cafe that looked over the city, walked over the Charles Bridge, got painted Easter eggs for our families and packed our suitcases for Poland.  

Our time in Prague was  incredibly way too short.  Yet, here I was again lugging my monstrous suitcase through the streets of Prague until we reached our bus.  We were onto the next venture, one step forward to living with our Polish students for a week.  That night we slept on an overnight train.  I was expecting it to be like something from the Polar Express, however with four girls in one train car and a monstrous suitcase, it was a sight to see.  Believe it or not, we all slept like babies that night and were woken up by the train whistle and the bright Polish sun.  We had breakfast on the train and then got a few hours of sleep on the bus before we came to our next location.

It felt like we were in a horror movie or a scary nightmare.  The woods looked like they went on forever and that there was no way out.  As our bus crept down the dirt roads the trees seemed to hover so high that no sunlight was able to sneak in.  It was dark, cold and rainy when we finally reached Treblinka.  Whether we were ready or not, it was time to see our first concentration camp in Poland, one that we would surely leave every one of my classmates and I in tears.

We were ready to see the camp along with the barbed wire and the train tracks, but as we approached, none of that was there.  There was not any barbed wire, no train tracks, no nothing.  As we walked into the museum, there were videos and memorabilia and then right in front of us stood a huge 3-D layout of the camp.  The strange thing was, when you looked outside none of that was there.  Were we even in the right place?

He had done it again.  Hitler had destroyed Treblinka,  He made it seem as if nothing had ever happened there.  As if 800,000 men, women and children didn’t lose their lives there.  What was remarkable was that somehow, there was still a large layout in the camp museum and it looked so accurate.  As we were walking through Treblinka, we were informed by our Polish tour guide Maria that those few that survived Treblinka were able to describe the layout of the camp and that was how the 3-D layout was created.  As we walked outside through the memorial, we learned that the pillars that went on for miles represented the train tracks.  After you follow the pillars you come to a mass grave with over 17,000 rocks.  In the center is a large tombstone that stands on top of where the gas chambers once stood.  Under all the stones are the ashes of 800,000 innocent people that lost their lives there.  As you walk past the stones, you see large pits that have more stones.  The pits were used by the Nazis to put dead bodies in. The stones represent exactly where those bodies would have lied.  Treblinka was a horrific place and we learned that once you entered, the odds of you coming out were slim to none.  

As the bus drove away, we were all numb, in shock.  There were no words, no thoughts, just tears.  There was one question though, how could someone get away with this and what was the rest of the world doing while these atrocities were taking place?

 

 Photos by Hannah D'Amico

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